Bon Jovi wrapped up their nine-show residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday night with a bang: Bruce Springsteen joined the group onstage to close out the evening with a pair of duets.
But the New Jersey icon wasn’t the only guest during the band’s residency. At nearly every date, the group welcomed at least one A-lister into their backstage circle, turning MSG into Club Bon Jovi. “Did this really happen???” Bon Jovi asked on Instagram, posting a photo from the July 9 gig with no less than Paul McCartney. “Yes, it did.”
Springsteen’s right-hand man Little Steven Van Zandt showed up a few nights later, along with the War and Treaty and Robbie Williams. Ed Sheeran popped in for Night Six, as did Howard Stern, who inducted Bon Jovi into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 and even posed for a photo. Oscar winner Forest Whitaker had an audience with the singer too.
Night Seven indulged Bon Jovi’s love for sports, with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and tennis legend John McEnroe mingling backstage. Pink was there too, and joined in the band’s preshow huddle.
There was a hiccup at the penultimate concert, on July 23, when the frontman had to cut the show a little short due to a sinus infection, but that gig also included a special guest: Train’s Pat Monahan, who sang “Livin’ on a Prayer.” (Monahan reprised the song with Bon Jovi’s David Bryan during a Train stop in Holmdel, New Jersey, the next night).
For the final night, Bon Jovi came roaring back, with both Springsteen and the War and Treaty returning to the Garden and taking the stage. The husband-and-wife duo of Michael and Tanya Trotter joined Bon Jovi for “The People’s House,” while Springsteen gave the crowd a thrill by singing and playing guitar on “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” and his own “The Promised Land.”
After being sidelined by vocal issues and a subsequent surgery in 2022, the Madison Square Garden residency marked Jon Bon Jovi’s first tour in four years. The band heads to the U.K. next month for five gigs, including three nights at London’s Wembley Stadium. We’ll have to see who drops by.
